This invention discloses an improvement in ball jointed links which are used to support a structure.
In the prior art ball jointed links are often used to support members such as a gripper hand from a mount structure. Ball jointed links preferably having a central aperture for supply lines, such as electric or hydraulic lines, to pass through the links and communicate through the mount structure to the supported member.
Once such prior art link is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,490. In this patent, a plurality of ball jointed links are disclosed which support a gripper hand at a distance from a mount structure. This system has proven successful, but it is desirable to further improve upon this system, and make it better equipped to support heavier loads.
Further, in the prior art adjacent ball jointed links are preferably connected by clamps. It may have been difficult to ensure that the clamps are properly aligned on the links, and thus difficult to ensure a secure connection.